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New powers to help Trading Standards officers tackle the UK’s fight against counterfeiting and piracy crime came into force last week.

Backed by £5 million of government funding the new powers under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, will make enforcement of copyright infringement the responsibility of Trading Standards and give officers the power to make test purchases, enter premises and inspect and seize goods and documents.

Malcolm Wicks, MP, the Minister for Science and Innovation, said:

"The UK film, music and game industries are among the most creative and innovative in the world, but peddlers of counterfeits are costing those industries up to £9 billion a year. The taxpayer is also losing out to the tune of £300 million. It's a serious offence, whether committed by small-scale hawkers or international crime organisations.

IP criminals should know that the UK is not a safe place. Their risk of 10 years' imprisonment and unlimited fines is very real and from this date forward a markedly higher risk."

It is suspected that all international crime organisations are now involved in counterfeiting and use this as a way to launder money and fund a wide range of criminal activities.

The IP Crime Group's Strategy, spearheaded by the newly renamed UK Intellectual Property Office is enabling co-ordinated action from customs, benefit fraud teams, police, trading standards and industry investigators to tackle these criminal activities.

Donna Sidwell, LACORS said:

"I am very pleased that the Government has formally welcomed the recommendations of the Gowers Review. The Government state that they firmly believe in the need for strong enforcement of Intellectual Property (IP) rights to support the UK's creative industries. LACORS is pleased that additional funding for these additional duties has been agreed, which will help local authority trading standards services tackle these criminals."

Editors' notes:

• Andrew Gowers’ Review of Intellectual Property, published in December, underlined the importance of effective enforcement. He said: "The ideal IP system creates incentives for innovation, without unduly limiting access for consumers and follow-on innovators. And it must take tough action against those who infringe IP rights at a cost to the UK’s most creative industries". The Review, including the final report, the commissioned research and responses to the Call for Evidence, is available from the HM Treasury website .
• The UK Intellectual Property Office has published a timetable for the implementation of the Gowers Review recommendations.
• The IP Crime Group, established by the UK Intellectual Property Office working in collaboration with its many partners, has in the last two years produced the national IP Crime Strategy, the Annual Enforcement Report, developed TellPat; the national database for recording counterfeiting and piracy activities which is now recognised by the Police, intelligence officers and Trading Standards as the key database on IP Crime. The Annual Enforcement Report is available on this website.
• LACORS (The Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services) is the local government central body responsible for overseeing local authority regulatory and related services. Regulatory services is the name given to a group of services which exist to ensure public protection. LACORS coordinates regulatory services delivered by local government. These range from protecting consumers against illegal doorstop selling to checking hygiene standards in restaurants and food factories.